Missfortune and Mishap
by boshrocks
Summary: little fluffy story about school of rock. pairings FreddieKatie and ZackSummer. read and review please. pretty please? no flames please.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except plot.**

Chapter 1 – School's out for the summer

Katie linked her arm in Zack's as they walked to Dewey's apartment. It was the same routine they did every day after school except this time they would have more time to practice because they had just broken up for the summer vacation.

They chatted about the things they were going to do while on holiday.

Freddy Jones, the bad ass drummer, skateboarded past them and stopped so suddenly that they bumped into him.

"Ow! Sorry guys! Have you heard? Dewey's got us a couple of gigs this summer! How cool is that?"

"It's more than cool, mate!" Zack replied excitedly.

"Well I heard he's got us a tour as well."

"That wasn't him, it was me." A voice said from behind them.

"Hi Summer."

Summer Hathaway, band manager.

Summer caught up with them and they walked together to the flat.

Most of the gang were already there so they went straight to their instruments and began to tune them.

"Pst! Katie? Do you wanna come to my house after practice?"

"Why Freddy?"

"I-um-need to talk to you."

"Can't we talk here?"

Katie saw him shoot an annoyed glance at Zack who grinned as though he knew what Freddy was thinking.

"No. It's kinda private."

"C'mon Spaz, can't you just give me a hint? Now I won't be able to concentrate!"

She pouted and he smiled warmly.

"Nope. Sorry. I might have lost my nerve by then."

"But-you never lose your nerve."

"Certain girls, eh Spaz?"

Katie looked up. Zack had come to stand next to her. Freddy glared at him and motioned something along the lines of where he would stick his guitar if he didn't shut up.

Ned Shneebly, Dewey's roommate, came out of the kitchen with drinks.

"Hi kids! Dewey's not gonna be here today and he's said you are to work on 'Alright now' by Free and 'Smoke on the Water' by Deep Purple. **(a/n: I love those songs! I can play them on my bass!...hides head….sorry….I'll shut up now)** If you want to you can chose a couple of others to practice. He says he wants to hear what you've done and he wants to see a marked improvement on your last practice."

"Great! So now we get homework from him too? I thought he didn't believe in homework?"

"He doesn't, idiot. Last session you were-um-not your best, let's say."

"Summer! You're supposed to be on our side!"

"I am, it's just we're the best band in the city and if we want to win Battle of the Bands again, we can't afford to slacken."

"But Dewey's not even here!"

"Before this becomes world war three, let's just practice."

"No! Why should I? I know all of the songs perfectly already."

"Stop being such a child Freddy Jones!"

"How dare you say I'm a child? I'm older than you, Katie!"

"No you're not. I'm five months older than you. I dare because I don't think Dewey and Ned would appreciate bloodshed in their flat!"

"Stop being such a goody two shoes!"

"Did you know that the zoo called? The baboons want their butts back so I'm afraid you'll have to look for a new face!"

"Spoilt brat!"

"Wannabe punk loser!"

An hour and a half later Dewey returned to find them still arguing.

"Not again!" He glanced around at the rest of the band and crew all of whom were lounging around the flat as if nothing was happening. "Right." He said slowly.

"Y'know, Jones, if you were twice as clever you would still be stupid."

"Alright! That's enough, you guys! Stop it!"

"What kind of idiot puts purple streaks into brown hair?"

"Um, you did it remember? You helped Summer and Zack put it in."

"Shut up, freak!"

Dewey whistled shrilly. The teenagers stopped fighting and turned to glare at him with equally annoyed expressions on their faces.

"Guys, you're supposed to be friends, remember? You two have the closest friendship in the whole band and here I find you going for each others throats like there's no tomorrow. I want you both to be friends again before the night is over, got it? Okay…so have you done any practicing at all tonight?"

Glumly everyone shook their heads. Dewey sighed.

"Okay. Your holidays have just started haven't they?" All heads nodded this time. "Right, I want you all here tomorrow at ten sharp, or else. Got it? Now go home."

Freddy and Katie didn't move however. They stood there staring at one another until Katie burst into tears, grabbed her things and ran out of the flat. Freddy grabbed his rucksack and skateboard from Zack and followed her at a run, calling her name.

The night was warm, but very dark. Katie stumbled on the pavement, her eyes straining to see where she was going. She heard her name being called and felt a hand under her elbow. She was pulled to her feet and suddenly found her face very close to Freddy's. He looked worried but grinned sheepishly at her in an apologetic fashion.

"I'm so sorry Freddy. I never meant to say all those things."

"Yeah, I'm sorry too. I didn't want you to get hurt. So, friends?"

"That'll do for now."

"You still gonna come over to my house?"

"If you don't mind. My parents are away for a couple of weeks."

"Why don't you come and stay at my house? You don't wanna be floating around that house all by yourself."

"Let me stop over at my house to get my things."

They started to walk in the direction of her house. Katie suddenly noticed the pain in her ankle. She stopped walking and cried out in pain. In an instant Freddy was back at her side and asking her what was wrong.

She ended up walking straight to Freddy's house with him supporting her.

He settled her on the sofa and went to fetch some ice for her ankle. Freddy's four year old sister came running in to greet her.

"Hello Gabby!" Katie greeted her warmly. Gabby clambered onto her lap and gave her a big hug and a kiss. Since Freddy and Katie had known each other since they were little and had basically grown up together Katie was treated as a twin sister for Freddy within their family.

"Kaydee! You haven't come to see me for ages. I missed you!"

"I missed you too sweetie. And I have good news for you, I'm gonna be staying here for a while, my parents are away." Gabby gave her another tight hug.

Freddy came back and told Gabby to get to bed as it was past her bedtime. She gave Katie a kiss and skipped over to Freddy who bent down to hug her telling her to get Alana to read to her if she wanted it. Alana was his other sister. She was younger than him by about four years.

"What am I gonna do about my stuff? I can't walk there now."

"You can borrow stuff from me. Tomorrow after practice we can go to your house and get your stuff. You can wear one of my big t-shirts as pjs if you want."

They continued to chat until Katie yawned.

"Whoah Katie! Don't swallow me! I swear I saw all the way down to your stomach! I think we'd better get to bed. We've got practice tomorrow."

He stood up and held out a hand to help Katie up. She stumbled a little from the pain in her ankle and he caught her and held her close. Then he helped her up the stairs and into the guest room.


	2. Drums

Chapter 2- A Disruption

The next afternoon Katie and Freddy sat in his room listening to his thoroughly well rounded CD collection.

"Freddy? Yesterday at practice you said you wanted to tell me something. What is it?"

Freddy didn't listen. Well actually he did but was trying to avoid answering the question. He was inserting a Ramones CD into his CD player. When he realised that she wasn't going to drop it he asked her, in an infuriatingly polite way, to repeat her question. She glared, knowing full well that he had heard her the first time. He realised the mood she was in and hastened to correct his mistake.

"Oh! Well- I- well- I- kinda- sorta-um…"

"Spit it out Freddy!"

"Well- I…"

Someone knocked on his door as he spoke and Zack put his head in the door.

"Hi guys!"

"What do you want, Hendrix?"

His nickname had changed to Hendrix; it rolled off the tongue better than Zack Attack.

"Nothing really Spaz."

Freddy shot Katie a look then glared hard at Zack, who flinched and realised his mistake. They had discussed their plans to tell their crushes about their feelings and Zack had just realised that he must have interrupted Freddy in the middle of telling her. Oh dear. Freddy was going to murder him.

"Can I talk to you outside, Hendrix? Now!"

They hurriedly left the room and Katie heard shouting from the next room. He he! She liked hearing Freddy shouting at someone else when they had just got over a quarrel. Mind you she hated it when they quarrelled. After about five minutes they still hadn't returned so she went over to Freddy's drum kit and started beating out the drum riff to Queen's Hammer to Fall and Alright Now by Free. She was actually pretty good. After a while she saw the boys standing in the doorway gaping at her.

"Sorry, got bored."

"That's okay. You can bang on my drums anytime."

Zack collapsed into giggles and Katie tried to give him a scornful look but she too laughed. It took Freddy a little while to cotton on to what he had said. He blushed violently. This just spurred on the laughter.

"You never told me you could drum." Zack asked Katie, still emitting little chuckles every now and then.

"I was playing drums before I started bass."

"We should arrange a drum-off between you two. Personally I don't think you stand a chance, Katie. He's the best drummer in the city. But if you practice some more you might be a sixteenth as good as him, and that'll be a start."

"No worries, you think I'd let myself get beat by a girl? Come on, dude, I'm way too cool for that!"

Katie wanted to hit him at that moment. How dare he be so misogynistic? She had known him for, like, ever and he had never been like this.

"Is your brain even connected to your mouth? I really don't think it is! You boys may say things like that when it's just boys but how dare you say something like that in front of me? I thought you were cool, Freddy, but it turns out I was wrong."

She threw his drumsticks at him and tried to storm out but because of her ankle she couldn't do more than limp out with an extremely p'd off look on her pretty face.

Freddy glared at Zack who looked back in a guilty fashion.

"You do know that this is all your fault?"


	3. Contemplation and memories

Katie grinned as she heard Freddy shouting at Zack. She couldn't quite hear what was being said but she got the general idea.

Of course she had known about Freddy's little crush. They had been best friends for years and years. She was a perceptive girl and had noticed that he kept looking at her. Her back may be turned when she was playing her bass during practice but she could still feel his eyes transfixed on her buttocks at practically every opportunity he got.

Mind you, he wasn't the only one. Plenty of guys stared at her. Especially at her bottom.

She didn't mind too much though. Katie had gone through years of being invisible girl and since the band nearly won at Battle of the Bands the first time they had entered, she had noticed the amount of groupies that followed the band around.

Other than the official groupies, Eleni and Michelle, they now had a rather large fan club and each band member had their own little personal fan club and they all pretended to hate all the attention, but everyone knew that they absolutely loved it.

She had even seen Laurence Tsai, ex loser, sauntering down the hall accompanied by a whole crowd of girls. He was now definitely Mr Cool, as Dewey had labeled him back when he started the band. She couldn't stop the giggles as she watched him acting up a bit, and Zack and Freddy had stared at her as if she had lost her mind. She hadn't been able to stop laughing so she pointed a shaky finger at him and they both laughed as well.

Things had definitely changed. And definitely for the better.

She had found out about Freddy's feelings when she had found a song he had written about her. He had been out of the room at the time and Zack and her had been chilling in his bedroom. Zack wanted to find his diary as he was curious about what made him tick…well, either that or he was just nosey. She had tried to stop him as she knew some of his secrets that even Zack, Freddy's best guy friend, didn't know. She was next to him and they had been squabbling over a notebook he was sure was the diary. It wasn't but she wasn't going to risk it. They had heard a creaking stair and both had dropped it. They had both scrabbled around gathering all the pieces of paper that seemed to have flown all over the room. Katie had an armful and then she caught sight of her name on the topmost sheet. At first she thought it was just some notes she had leant him for a test or something. Then she saw the tablature and chords.

"Hey, Zack, look at this, it's a song. Freddy wrote a song?"

"This is actually pretty good. We should show it to Dewey."

"Not without his permission first. Hang on…"

As her eyes scanned the lyrics she realized that it was a love song to HER! Oh my god! At last! Took him long enough!

"Dude, read the lyrics. They're really good. Not only that…finally I've found out how he feels about me! I've been waiting for this for about…oh god knows how many years!"

"Um, 6 years, in case I'm mistaken. You really didn't know? I thought everybody did. Why do you think Freddy's fan club hate you so much?"

"I don't know. I never really thought about it. Explains a lot though."

"Like why he keeps staring at your ass during practice…and any other time of day he thinks he can get away with it. And why he always stares longingly at you when he thinks no one's looking. I love watching the way he is around you."

"And I just love seeing you blunder around our very own Ms Hathaway."

"I think we both need help. You help me and I'll help you. Deal?"

She grinned at him and they did the exclucivo School of Rock handshake.

Freddy walked back into the room as they finished it.

"What's going on?"

"Katie's a little sloppy on the handshake. I was just tutoring her in the finer details she missed out." Zack lied with a fluidity that was quite shameless.

That had been 6 months ago and not much had come of it, as far as she knew. She had had a few words with Summer and hinted at the fact that Zack liked her but she had said nothing concrete. The problem was that she thought that Zack might have spoken to Freddy recently about it, if his hints about "Certain girls" were plausible.

She heard the shouts subside next door and called out for the boys to come and help her. Both boys came at a run and fell over each other in the doorway.

"Oh, sorry, I thought I called for Zack. Not you Freddy." She said and pouted that famous bassist pout.

Freddy left looking very put out and Zack went to sit on the bed next to Katie.

"What's the problem Katie?"

"You remember about 6 moths ago when I found out about Freddy's feelings and we promised to help each other out? Well what have you said to Freddy?"

"I'm not telling you. You'll just have to wait and see. Um, can you not come to practice tomorrow, we are preparing something and we don't want you to know it yet"  
"I doubt I can stand up well on this leg for a long time anyway. I need to rest it well. Freddy!" she shouted suddenly.

He rushed in and tripped over his own feet and fell flat on his face at Katie's feet.

"I like my men at my feet."

"Bugsy Malone!"

"A dime in the jar boys. I wanted to ask a favour Freddy. Can I hold a sleepover for some of the girls in the band? Its kinda urgent. Girl talk."

"Sure, I'm gonna keep well out of the way. Girl talk can get quite nasty if a guy is mixed up in it."

"Thanks. Oh, and girl talk is perfectly affable with a boy around; we have girl talks with Fancy Pants Billy all the time, he's one of us. It only gets nasty when we find a boy eavesdropping when we are playing Truth. Then that boy had better look out; we can be meaner than the worst bully, because we know how to be subtle…and how to hurt a guy most."

"Am I the only one who is really scared?"

"Nope, I am too." 


	4. The Sleepover

Freddy groaned as he heard the shrieks of giggles coming from the guest room. Tonight was the sleepover, and he hated girlish get-togethers. Why were girls so silly? He had invited Zack along for the night so he wouldn't go completely crazy. They shot each other bemused looks as another burst of giggles came floating through to them.

"What do you think they're doing?"

"You know how we can find out?"

"If this includes your stupid idea to go in there to ask them if they want a drink or something and see if they're undressed or something, then I'm out. You go get your head chopped off if you really want. Sensible people stay out of girls' ways when they are having a sleepover."

"Come on, dude, you know you want to."

"There are a lot of things I want, none of which I will ever get, like Katie, to take an example."

"Dude, just ask her out. Get it over and done with. Wait! You like wallowing in your misery don't you? You think you will never get her and so you are willing to do nothing about making yourself feel better."

"You're doing the same about Summer, I know you are."

"Actually I'm gonna ask her out soon."

They heard screams from next door and shrugged at the same time.

"Ok, now I'm thoroughly intrigued."

"Don't do it, man!"

Zack stuck his tongue out in defiance and left the room. Freddy heard him asking the girls if they wanted drinks as he was on his way to the kitchen. Then he heard the girls giggle again and then the door closing. Ha! Now Zack was going to crawl back in here looking miserable and I can say I told you so.

But no Zack appeared. Then Katie limped her way into the room.

"They kicked me out so they could talk to Zack. I don't like being excluded from the sleepover." She pouted.

He couldn't stop staring at her. She was wearing his over large Green Day t-shirt…and nothing else. It covered her…but only just.

She sat on his bed and he tried not to look at her legs and the cut off line where t-shirt ended and very long leg began. When did her legs get so long? Stop it! Bad boy Freddy!

"Wh-wh-wh" he swallowed and tried again. "Why?" he managed to splutter.

Luckily for him she had the respect not to notice his present state…or at least she pretended not to.

"I dunno, some secret I suppose."

She then decided to torture him a little. She raised an arm and touched the wall behind her. This action hitched her t-shirt up her leg a bit. It was now dangerously close to her knickers. She knew what effect this would have on him and a glance towards his crotch area confirmed her speculation. He grabbed a notebook to hide his growing bulge.

She smirked and got up and left the room and went to the guest room again. She entered to see the circle on the floor and the bottle waiting for her to spin.

"Dare completed most successfully."

"You so didn't! You weren't even in there for five minutes."

"Honey, you have no idea how to work the body to guarantee the desired effect. I on the other hand, are an expert. My dare was to try and get Freddy to get an errection and I did. Boys are so easy to work with. They have so much testosterone that you've only got to show a bit of leg or cleavage to get a result."

"It doesn't hurt that he's already in love with you."

"No it certainly doesn't. Now, I believe it was my turn to spin the bottle. Zack, darling, I believe you've heard enough. Go help Freddy sort out his little problem."

He was laughed from the room. Katie sat down and spun the bottle. It landed on Summer.

"Truth or dare, Summer?"

"Umm, dare."

"Hmmm. I thought you would choose that."

"I'm gonna regret this aren't I?"

"Hmm, possibly. I have the perfect dare for you…but you will be pleased to hear that I am going to make you wait before I make you do it. Don't worry, it's not that humiliating."


	5. The morning after

The next morning Summer woke early. It took her a moment to realise where she was. Then she looked next to her and saw Katie sleeping peacefully on the bed next to her. Summer smiled as she saw Katie smile, obviously because of a pleasant dream. Then she heard Katie sigh.

"How long have you been watching me sleep?"

"You're awake?"

"Doesn't take a genius to work that out. Why you up so early?"

"Couldn't sleep. You?"

"Had a disturbing dream in the night. You were making out with Freddy in Dewey's apartment."

"Don't worry honey, I'm not going after him."

"I know. You're going after our very own Mr Moonyham. Hurt him and prepare to die. Just warning you, sweetie."

"As if I would hurt him. Let's go downstairs and get some breakfast for the guys."

They met Freddy and Zack on the stairs.

"Hello Katie."

"Hi girls!"

"Sleep well?"

"What little we got of it. I had no idea that a girly sleepover meant that you don't get to sleep before 2:30. Since my room is opposite the guest room we were kept up by you girls."

"Ignore Mr Grumpy here. He's still a little annoyed because of the dare."

"I am not! I just haven't had my pill yet."

"Freddy can I talk to you separately?"

He took her by the arm and helped her limp down the stairs. He settled her into the sofa and perched on the opposite arm of it.

"Look, I'm sorry about what happened last night. It was a dare. Trust me, I suffered just as much as you did. I didn't want to do that to you. They dared me and you know me I never go back on a dare."

"I take it you had a good sleepover then?"

"It was fun. I definitely learnt a lot about my friends and their crushes."

Freddy looked at her apprehensively. That didn't sound good. What if Katie fancied someone else? Damnit! He knew he should have rigged the room. Oh well. He'd find out soon enough. Her birthday was in a few days. He would find out everything then.

Everything hung on that day and her response. Oh god! Let's hope everything turns out the way I want it to.


	6. The Surprise

About three days later Katie was woken suddenly by something bouncing on her bed. Her foot was now healed and she had been banned from going to band practice a couple of times. This had annoyed her and she had been even more confused when Summer had borrowed her bass and hadn't given it back.

Katie opened her eyes in time to see Gabby run out of the room. She chuckled and checked her clock. The date proved that today was her birthday.

When she entered the kitchen for breakfast no one acknowledged this fact and she felt somewhat disappointed. Surely the Jones family would remember her eighteenth birthday? They had remembered every year since she was a little girl. She couldn't understand it.

Freddy said he had things to do so he left the house early. Katie tried to get him to tell her where he was going but he rushed out with his skateboard but without answering her question.

She lounged around in the living room and played with Gabby until the doorbell rang. Alana went to open it.

"Katie! Billy's here for you!"

"Hey Fancy-Pants! What's up?"

"I am under instruction to make you look beautiful. Well, even more beautiful than my favourite model, ie you, already are. We are going to your house. Come on!"

Katie shot a confused look at Alana as she passed her. Alana gave her a blank look in return.

Katie was practically dragged out to his, shamefully, pink mini.

Once they had driven to her house and Katie had clambered out of the old fashioned mini in the abhorrent colour of pale pink, Katie noticed Eleni standing outside the house.

"What the bloody hell are you doing here?"

"We've got to get you ready. Come on, girl, let's get inside."

"Ok. But ready for what?"

"Never mind. You'll see."

"What are you going to do to me this time?"

By now they were in her room and Eleni was applying make up to her face, enhancing her dark bewitching eyes especially. Billy was invisible except for his bottom as he was busy rifling through her wardrobe.

"Trust us, Katie, you'll be absolutely…"

"Fabulous." Katie finished his sentence and said the word exactly like he always did.

She couldn't see his flinch as she mocked him as his head was still in the cupboard.

"The last time you told me to trust you, Billy, you had me wearing a yellow spandex cat-suit. I'm not falling for it again."

"You looked good in that cat-suit!"

"Fine, but, next time you want me in a cat-suit, make sure it's not yellow or spandex."

"Here, put these on."

"What? Here?"

"I don't see why not."

"You perve, Billy!"

"Oh come on! I don't even like girls in that way!"

"You know, Billy, I always wondered about your sexuality."

"We all did, Katie." Eleni put in as she brushed Katie's long dark hair.

Katie was still shy about it so she took the opportunity to change when he was bending over her chest of drawers. Billy had given her a top and skirt set. It was slightly neat and she noticed it was what Freddy had bought her for her last birthday. It had been so sweet. He had got a job just so that he could take her shopping on her birthday. As Eleni handed her a necklace and earrings and bracelets and rings, she noticed that they were all what Freddy had given her in the past.

"Hey! Stay out of that drawer, Billy! That's my knicker drawer!"

"Relax, honey, I'm just trying to find you some fishnet tights."

"Bottom drawer, Billy."

He handed her a pair of boots to wear and then twisted her hair into a loose up do with strands hanging down, which he plaited.

They led her up the stairs to Dewey's apartment and told her to wait outside until they called her in.

About five minutes later she heard a shout from within and entered the flat.

She stood still and stared. The apartment was full of fairy lights and they had draped pieces of material over the lamps so that the whole room had a magical quality.

They seemed to have gone a bit overboard on the balloon front. Not only were there streams of them hanging from the ceiling, but the floor was a sea of them so that as you walked you kicked them up and watched them drift gently down.

The flat looked positively gorgeous and yet, there was no one there except her.

"Guys? Is anyone here?"

"SURPRISE!" About a dozen voices shouted as the whole band and crew, Dewey and Ned, some of her fan club and her older sister jumped out from behind various articles around the flat.

Wait? Her older sister? She had been abroad for years and they hadn't seen each other for ages. What was she doing here?

Sophie answered before she could ask the question.

"You really think I would miss my own little sister's eighteenth birthday? You're a woman, officially."

"I think I can decode that. You happened to be in town visiting some old pals and Summer caught you and told you to come on penalty of death. Is that right?"

"No! Maybe. Ok fine! Yes! But I am glad I came. I've really missed you. Anyway I have to go. You're present is on the table and tell mum and dad hi from me when they get back from their business trip."

She hugged Katie and then bustled out.

Katie stared after her and then gave herself a little shake before turning to her friends.

"I thought you had all forgotten about my birthday."

"Katie, you really are a twit, do you know that?"

"How could we forget your eighteenth birthday?"

"Yeah, you're Posh Spice…we all love you."

Freddy cleared his throat and the party members stopped talking abruptly. They ushered Katie onto the sofa which they had wheeled round so that it faced the band setup.

Zack immediately went to his guitar as did Dewey. Laurence placed himself behind the keyboard and Summer picked up Katie's bass and got into position.

"Sum? Since when do you play bass?"

"As of three days ago."

"But why?"

"I'll let Freddy answer that. Freddy? You got the floor."

Freddy looked nervous and he tentatively took her hand.

"Katie, I'm sorry for not being around a lot and I know all of this seems really weird but I hope…no pray…that you will understand in a moment. All I ask is that you sit quietly and let me deliver my present to you."

He dropped her hand and went to his drum kit. He counted the band in and they started to play.

The music was catchy and was the kind of rock that made you unconsciously nod your head and beat out the rhythm as you listen to it.

"Ok," Dewey was saying into his mike. "Freddy wrote this song and as he isn't much of a singer he asked me to sing it for you.

"There's a girl I know

Who's more perfect than I can say.

Her name's Katie and I love her.

I always wanted to tell her

But never had the guts

Because she didn't want me

But I wanted her

More than anything

More than life.

She is my rising sun

And my glorious sunset

At the end of every day

She is the one

I never stop thinking about her

So, this song is for her.

There has to be a way

To get through to her

Believe me I've tried!"

Then Freddy finished his little closing solo and got up and came over to her.

"Katie, I've been wanting to tell you this for a long time. So here goes. Katie, you mean more to me than any other person on this earth. We've been friends for all our lives and I guess what I'm trying to tell you is that, well, I love you. It's funny how long it took me to say those three small words. And now that I have said them they do seem so little. But I mean them I really do. I love you, Katie. And I have for years, I just didn't know it. You haven't moved or said anything so I think you don't feel the same. I'm a fool, but I'm a fool in love. I'm going to leave now as I have ruined any chance I ever had with you."


	7. Couples

Katie grabbed his hand as he turned away from her. She got up and turned him round to face her. Then she kissed him. It was sweet and perfect and neither wanted it to end. It did however.

"You have no idea how long I've waited to hear those words." She breathed, her face still close to his. "Before Zack says how long it was, I'll tell you. I have been waiting seven years to hear you say that. That's how long I've loved you, Freddy. I was on the point of giving up, especially today when you rushed out without acknowledging my birthday. We've both been fools, fools in love. This couldn't be more perfect. Thank you."

She saw Zack grinning from over Freddy's shoulder. She rolled her eyes as she understood what he was getting at. He wanted her to get a move on with her end of the deal. He had done his and now he wanted her to do hers.

Katie disentangled herself from Freddy's embrace.

"Summer, could I talk to you in the kitchen, please. It won't take a moment."

They moved into the slightly more private kitchen area.

"Sum, I think I should let you in on a little deal I made with Zack."

Those left in the living area looked up as they heard Summer's shriek of glee. They looked over in time to see Katie clamp her hand over her friend's mouth. Then there was some frantic whispering and then they distinctly heard Summer say "This."

The next moment Summer had rejoined the group and had walked over to where Zack was sitting on one of the few armchairs.

Delicately she placed herself on his lap. He looked shocked and bewildered and not a little pleased.

Cautiously he shot a look at Katie who was watching closely. She nodded and he grinned as Summer kissed him soundly on the mouth.

Katie moved over to sit on Freddy's lap. They cuddled as they waited for Zack and Summer to finish snogging.

Dewey looked on in amazement, these kids never stopped surprising him.

Later when Katie had finished opening her presents and the party was on it's final legs, Katie happened to be lying quietly on the sofa when something heavy came and sat on her. Lazily she raised her eyes.

"Hello Zack." She said without much enthusiasm.

"Well, I think we can safely say that we killed the birthday girl. Go us! Hem! Well, I just wanted to thank you and to acknowledge that our deal is now complete. We both have our loves and both within the space of about 5 minutes. Good work!"

"To both of us. I assume that this party and that song are down to your insinuation?"

"You caught me! Good plan wasn't it?"

She kicked him onto the floor.

"Sorry honey, I'm not strong enough to hold both you and your huge ego!"

"Hey! I resent that!"


	8. Engagements

**A/N: last chapter unless I get lots of reviews**

Now we fast-forward a couple of years. College is done and dusted. The band has broken up, but are as close as ever. They never got that record deal in the end, so they decided to call it quits.

Freddy moved in with Katie and Zack and Summer also live with them.

All of the band was wondering which couple would get engaged first. Most of the money was on Freddy and Katie.

Therefore it took them completely by surprise when Zack beat Freddy to it.

He had sent Summer up to her favourite spa and taken her shopping for a new dress. Then he disappeared for a while and sent her a note telling her to go to Alessandro's restaurant. They had had their very first date there as an official couple.

When she walked in the waiter asked her for her name and then led her into a separate room. It was beautiful. It was clearly a place for lovers as it had a colour scheme of red and gold.

There was no one in the room but on the table was a little black velvet ring box.

When she opened it she found a ruby and diamond ring with a scroll inside saying Marry me?

"What do you think?" Zack's voice said from behind her.

As she turned she put the ring onto her engagement finger and ran to him. She flung her arms around him and kissed him.

When she let him go he asked her rather tentatively "You will?"

She merely nodded.

Freddy was never a man to be far outdone by Zack so his proposal took place little over a week later.

He and Katie were walking home from a concert that he had treated her to. As they approached their house he pointed out that there was something in the tree in their front yard.

"Climb up and get it darling, I'm so tired from that concert."

"You're so lazy Freddy!"

But she climbed up anyway.

It was a red velvet ring box attached to a tree by a piece of black ribbon. Carefully she untied it and climbed back down.

"Open it Katie."

She opened it to find a sapphire and ruby ring. It was so exquisitely beautiful that she failed to notice Freddy kneeling down in front of her.

To get her attention he cleared his throat. She looked down and squealed as she realised who had set this up.

"Do I even have to say the words, Katie? Or has your fabulous mind worked out my intentions?"

"I have but I would like to hear you say them anyway."

"Katie, I love you. Will you marry me?"

"What do you bloody well think! How could I refuse you?"


End file.
